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SEATTLE (Reuters) – A 20-year-old man dubbed the "Barefoot Bandit" and accused of a two-year crime spree while he was still a teenager pleaded guilty on Friday to seven federal charges.
Colton Harris-Moore, who was captured in the Bahamas last July after crash-landing a plane he allegedly stole in Indiana, pleaded guilty under an agreement with prosecutors that prevents him from profiting from his crimes.
According to the plea deal the Washington-state native could be sentenced to a maximum of 78 months in prison and will be ordered to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution when he is sentenced in October.
Harris-Moore, who was named a suspect in a two-year wave of some 80 crimes across nine Western and Midwestern States, British Columbia and the Bahamas, also faces trial in state court, where five Washington counties have filed a combined 40 criminal counts against him.
"Mr. Harris-Moore's flight from justice has ended. He will spend a significant amount of time in prison and he will not make a dime from his crimes," U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan said outside court after the sentencing hearing.
Under the 28-page plea agreement, Harris-Moore, a high school dropout and self-taught pilot who gained an Internet following as he allegedly taunted authorities on the run, must forfeit any financial gain from telling his story.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of bank burglary, two counts of interstate transportation of a stolen aircraft and one count each of interstate and foreign transportation of a stolen firearm, being a fugitive in possession of a firearm, piloting an aircraft without a valid license, and interstate transportation of a stolen vessel.
Those charges were contained in a seven-count indictment unsealed at the start of the hearing.
Harris-Moore, who grew up in the Puget Sound community of Camano Island, north of Seattle, is accused of stealing boats and planes to hop from one island to another in Puget Sound as he stayed one step ahead of authorities.
He is accused of flying one stolen aircraft about 1,000 miles from Indiana to the Bahamas last year. It was there that he was finally captured by Bahamian police who shot out the engine of a boat in which he was trying to make a getaway.
Harris-Moore was extradited back to Seattle to face the federal charges.
Colton Harris-Moore, who was captured in the Bahamas last July after crash-landing a plane he allegedly stole in Indiana, pleaded guilty under an agreement with prosecutors that prevents him from profiting from his crimes.
According to the plea deal the Washington-state native could be sentenced to a maximum of 78 months in prison and will be ordered to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution when he is sentenced in October.
Harris-Moore, who was named a suspect in a two-year wave of some 80 crimes across nine Western and Midwestern States, British Columbia and the Bahamas, also faces trial in state court, where five Washington counties have filed a combined 40 criminal counts against him.
"Mr. Harris-Moore's flight from justice has ended. He will spend a significant amount of time in prison and he will not make a dime from his crimes," U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan said outside court after the sentencing hearing.
Under the 28-page plea agreement, Harris-Moore, a high school dropout and self-taught pilot who gained an Internet following as he allegedly taunted authorities on the run, must forfeit any financial gain from telling his story.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of bank burglary, two counts of interstate transportation of a stolen aircraft and one count each of interstate and foreign transportation of a stolen firearm, being a fugitive in possession of a firearm, piloting an aircraft without a valid license, and interstate transportation of a stolen vessel.
Those charges were contained in a seven-count indictment unsealed at the start of the hearing.
Harris-Moore, who grew up in the Puget Sound community of Camano Island, north of Seattle, is accused of stealing boats and planes to hop from one island to another in Puget Sound as he stayed one step ahead of authorities.
He is accused of flying one stolen aircraft about 1,000 miles from Indiana to the Bahamas last year. It was there that he was finally captured by Bahamian police who shot out the engine of a boat in which he was trying to make a getaway.
Harris-Moore was extradited back to Seattle to face the federal charges.